Mumbai-based P2P (peer-to-peer) lending startup Lenden Club has raised Rs 3.5 crore in equity investment from three major investors Venture Catalyst, Anirudh Damani, and an Indian venture capital fund.

In May last year, the lending platform had raised Rs 1.5 crore from Venture Catalyst and Damani.

Lenden Club, a fintech company, run by Innofin Solutions Pvt Ltd, was founded by Dipesh Karki and Bhavin Patel in 2014 to connect salaried borrowers with individual lenders. Currently operating as a web-based platform, Lenden Club considers a combination of traditional and non-traditional data points to validate the credit-worthiness of the lender.

“We plan to utilise the funds mainly for strengthening our technology platform and expanding our scope of operations that have opened up post the release of guidelines by the central bank,” said Bhavin Patel, chief executive officer of Lenden Club, reported ET.

Earlier, this month RBI had issued directions for NBFC (non-banking financial companies) that operate P2P lending platforms. According to the directions, from now on no NBFC can start or carry on the business of a P2P lending platform without obtaining a Certificate of Registration. Every company seeking registration with the bank as an NBFC-P2P shall have a net owned funds of not less than Rs 20 million or such higher amount as the bank may specify.

Peer-to-peer lending platforms are online technology-based players who connect lenders with borrowers. With their algorithms and decision-making abilities, they help lenders take a call on the creditworthiness of the borrowers and also enable quick disbursal of loans at reasonable interest rates.

In recent times, digital lending startups have been hitting right on the money, and they are easing the process for SMEs to secure funding for operational expenses and grow their market.